


Risk and Reward

by WanderingAlice



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Ask Fic, M/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:05:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4407611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingAlice/pseuds/WanderingAlice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard walks in on Spock and Jim having an argument on the bridge. Written for the prompt: <i>They were looking at each other with the intensity usually reserved for bomb defusion.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Risk and Reward

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this quick little thing as an ask for the wonderful fizzingwizard over on tumblr. You can find the original post on my writing blog: wanderingalicewrites.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! (Also, feel free to stop by my blog and say hi!)

He walked out of the turbolift and immediately wanted to turn around and go back down to the medbay. The atmosphere on the bridge was beyond galacial. It was down right ice-age up there, and the cause was clearly the captain and his first officer. They were looking at each other with the intensity usually reserved for bomb defusion, while the rest of the regular bridge crew watched in varying states of fear and horror.

“Say that again,” Jim said carefully, ice dripping from his voice. Leonard felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. He hadn’t heard Jim’s voice that hard and cold since the day Jocelyn showed up on their doorstep demanding Leonard cease all contact with his baby girl. 

Spock blinked and took a short breath. Leonard was willing to bet just about anything that, had he been human, the first officer would have been shouting just about then. As it was, his face was showing more emotion than Jim usually got out of him in a whole month. Whatever this was, it was  _big_. Leonard had a very bad feeling about what Spock was going to say next.

“I  _said_ ,” Spock said, and Leonard winced. Emphasizing was never good with Spock. “That the captain should not needlessly risk his life on an away mission when others of the crew are just as capable of preforming the same tasks.”

“No way,” Jim growled, and Leonard  _really_  didn’t like the look in his eyes. “If the captain isn’t willing to risk his own life, why should any of the crew risk theirs? I can’t just sit back and let everyone else do the dangerous stuff, that’s not me, _and you know it,_ Spock.”

“Jim-” Spock’s hand twitched, a sure sign he wanted to reach for the captain but restrained himself. “The captain is necessary to the continuing mission of this vessel. Losing it’s captain will have a negative impact on morale and crew performance. In addition, the loss of the captain would necessitate a halt in operations while a new captain was appointed, thus causing the loss of productivity on a major scale. When you are injured and unable to perform your duties, the overall effectiveness of the ship drops by 12.8 percent. This loss could easily be avoided if you simply refrain from going on away missions.”

“And, what, let you go instead? What would happen if you died, Spock? Huh? How would that effect the ship? If the captain is important, so is the first officer!” As he shouted, Jim’s hands moved and he winced. Leonard noticed Spock looking at Jim’s side with concern- a concern Jim didn’t seem to see- and suddenly things made sense. 

“Your logic is sound,” Spock said. “If it means you will stop needlessly risking your life, I, too, will refrain from such activities.” Leonard  _really_  wanted to see how everyone reacted to that statement, but he was too busy pulling his tricorder out to get a reading on Jim’s injuries. Clearly he’d been bullshitting when he’d said he was fine earlier.

Jim ignored Leonard’s hovering, or else he was so angry he didn’t even notice him. “My  _logic_ \- ! Stop- !  _Spock!_  That’s not the point! The point is, we’re both needed on these missions! We’re the ones with the authority to make the quick decisions. We’re the ones with the experience in situations like that thing today. If I hadn’t been there, Ensign Miller would be dead and Lieutenant Johnson would probably still be held captive. They needed me down there, Spock. I’m not going to stop going out there just because you suddenly don’t think I’m good enough!”

“Jim, calm down,” Leonard ordered, glaring at the tricorder, which was showing a broken rib and possible internal bleeding. Spock looked like he’d been kicked.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Bones.  _He’_ s the one that needs to calm down. Saying I shouldn’t go on missions anymore-”

“Jim!” Leonard pulled out a hypo and tried to stick it into Jim’s neck, but his friend pushed him off.

“No, Bones. Not now. Come on, Spock. That’s what you’re really saying, isn’t it? I’m not good enough to go on away missions. You think I should just stay up here and mind the ship while you go off and do things that are too _important_  for me to fuck up, is that right?”

“No,” Spock said, quietly, all the anger in him draining into a sort of sadness. “No, Jim.”

“You think I can’t hack it, that I’ll just screw things up. But I’ve got news for you, two people are alive today because I went down there. I saved their lives, and yours too. And you’re not going to make me regret any of that just because you think I can’t do this job. I’m the captain, and it’s my job to make sure everyone on this ship is safe.  _Everyone_ , you hear me Spock? So I don’t care what I did that made you think I’m not good enough, I-”

“Quiet!” Spock snapped, and Leonard froze. As Jim had been yelling, the vulcan had regained his earlier anger and then some, and now it came pouring out in a torrent of words.

“You purposely risked your life to save Ensign Miller today. You took unacceptable risks, which resulted in a high probability of injury to yourself- injury that has Dr. McCoy worried, judging by his expression. This has become a pattern with you. Whenever another is in danger, you put yourself in harm’s way to protect them, even at the risk of your own life. You take no precautions to protect yourself, nor do you seem to think about the consequences should you be heavily injured. Your rate of injury has exponentially increased in situations where members of this crew are placed in danger. You have been legally dead twice in a period of five months, mortally wounded seven times, and admitted to sickbay an additional twelve times. And that is all within this past year. This is completely unacceptable.  _You_  are too important to lose.

“I find it hard to understand how it is that you do not see this. Every person on this bridge would feel your loss greatly. We,  _I_ , cannot stand to see how little you care for your own life. You are important to me, Jim, and I will not let you throw your life away without cause.”

Jim stood, motionless. The bridge was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Then- “Spock, you…” Jim reached out, then pulled his hand back, unsure.

“I cannot lose you, Jim. Do not make me.” There was more emotion in Spock’s voice than Leonard had ever heard. 

“Spock…” Jim took two steps forward and took Spock’s hands in his. “Spock, I won’t stop going on missions, I can’t. But… I can try to be more careful. I can promise you that much.”

“Then that,” Spock said, bringing their joined hands up to cradle the side of Jim’s face, “is all I can ask for.”

The moment stretched into awkward silence, at least for the rest of the bridge. Spock and Jim seemed lost in their own little world. Leonard grumbled and stabbed them both with hypos simultaneously.

“Great, if we’re done with the sappy declarations, you both are coming with me to sickbay. Whoever let you off the transporter without coming to see me first is about to get his ass handed to him. You’ve  _both_  got major injuries, and I’m willing to bet Spock is just as guilty at the whole ‘throwing himself into danger’ thing, if these readings are anything to go by. Idiots, both of you.” So saying, he grabbed them both by the shoulders and dragged them into the turbolift. Some days, he wondered exactly which god he had offended, to get stuck with these two as his best friends.


End file.
